Pound Euro Exchange Rate (GBP EUR) Remains In The 1.23s Despite Positive Unemployment Data

Published: Thursday, 3 January 2013 15:00 BST - Written by John Cameron

STORY LINK Pound Euro Exchange Rate (GBP EUR) Remains In The 1.23s Despite Positive Unemployment Data

Today’s session has been dominated by the release of employment data from several major global economies. The eurozone led the way this morning when German labour market data for December was published. Although the numbers showed that the overall level of unemployment in the powerhouse Teutonic economy had risen for the ninth month on the trot, the release was considered by analysts to be generally euro-positive. The increases in the level of German joblessness since last summer have been minimal and, in spite of the consecutive increments, the level of unemployment in Europe’s premier economy remains close to its lowest level since East and West Germany were unified. The key positive for the single currency from this morning’s figures was that the increase in joblessness was of a lesser magnitude than had been anticipated, with only 3,000 new unemployment claimants last month.

Elsewhere in the eurozone, the latest Spanish labour market figures, also released this morning, provided further cause for optimism, revealing that joblessness in the struggling Iberian state had contracted last month for the first time since July 2012. The drop of 1.2% in the number of Spaniards claiming unemployment benefit provided investors with Spanish interests with a rare piece of encouraging news following a dismal run of domestic data releases.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, this afternoon’s US employment data has been a mixed bag. On the credit side, December’s ADP Employment Change data revealed that some 215,000 jobs had been created in the States last month, this was well ahead of the expected 140,000 figure. However, weekly Initial Jobless Claims and Continuing Claims numbers served to disappoint, with both showing at above the anticipated levels.

In spite of the encouraging German and Spanish employment data, the Pound Euro exchange rate (currency : GBP EUR) has resiliently remained in the 1.2300s today, while the Pound US Dollar exchange rate (Currency : GBP USD) has continued to pullback following its midweek break to a 16 month high, visiting 1.6145 earlier.

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